President Biden held a highly anticipated solo press conference Thursday evening to speak with the White House press corps amid concerns about his mental fortitude.
For reporters, it was a definitive trial to determine if Biden’s confused and inarticulate demeanor at his first presidential debate against former President Trump was a fluke or a sign of a growing problem for the administration.
Biden struggled with names — even for his own vice president
Before the press conference even began, Biden started out stumbling when he introduced Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” at the NATO conference in Washington, D.C.
“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said, before starting to leave the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
DEMS RUSH TO DEFEND BIDEN AMID HIGH-STAKES PRESS CONFERENCE: ‘VERY STRONG PERFORMANCE’
President Biden speaks to reporters at a news conference during the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Biden seemed to realize his embarrassing verbal stumble mentioning Russian President Vladimir Putin and attempted to quickly correct himself.
“He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin,” he said. “We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President.”
A similar gaffe happened once Biden began to speak, with the president confusing Vice President Kamala Harris with Trump.
“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump if I didn’t think she was qualified to be president,” Biden told the press.
Biden had a list of reporters to call on
When President Biden finished his opening remarks, he opened the floor to questions but announced he had been “given a list of people to call on.”
The statement surprised many journalists, as the Biden administration’s reliance on screening questions and pre-approving reporters has been a consistent point of criticism.
Biden’s camp is touting him as a policy expert
During and after the press conference, Biden’s immediate team and wider ecosystem of allies were quick to tout the event as an overwhelming success.
Many claimed the president’s answers regarding foreign policy issues showed him to have expertise in international affairs.
BIDEN’S HIGH-STAKES SOLO PRESS CONFERENCE SLAMMED FROM THE RIGHT AS ‘ANOTHER DISASTER’
President Biden, right, and former President Trump argue on stage at the first presidential debate of the 2024 election. Biden’s performance at the event was so concerning, lawmakers in the Democratic Party have since questioned if he should stand for re-election. (Getty Images)
“To answer the question on everyone’s minds: No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs. He’s just that f—ing good,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in a post to X.
Joel Rubin, a former State Department official during the Obama administration, considered Biden’s performance to be “very strong.”
“This is a very strong performance. Quite frankly. @POTUS is putting on a master class in how foreign policy and domestic policy intersect, explaining how crucial American global leadership is to our people here at home. Well done, Mr. President,” Rubin wrote in a post on X.
One Democratic activist went so far as to say he believes there are “people who owe President Biden an apology” after the president’s press conference.
Republicans are calling it another disaster
The press conference was panned as a “disaster” on social media by conservatives, who criticized the president for a performance they said featured Biden stumbling through answers to reporters’ questions about foreign policy and the 2024 presidential race.
Many cracked jokes about the president’s multiple mix-ups on names, including Trump himself.
Some within President Biden’s camp have touted his performance at the press conference as proof of his expertise in foreign policy and fortitude. Others say his repeated gaffes and weak cadence further harmed his image. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president.’ Great job, Joe!” Trump joked on his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.
Democrats are still divided on whether Biden needs to step down
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Democrats in Congress and supporters of the president want to see leadership in the effort to defeat Trump in November but cannot decide how to proceed.
“Nobody knows the path forward,” Psaki said. “And members of Congress and people who are rooting for him want to know, how do you win this race? How do you defeat Donald Trump? People just want a little something to go with, and they don’t have it.”
At least 10 House Democrats and one in the Senate have publicly called on Biden to end his re-election bid, and a growing number of both House and Senate Democrats have publicly and privately warned that the president will lose to Trump in November.
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Former White House press secretary, MSNBC host Jen Psaki said that President Biden’s team was not doing enough to show his “empathy” as concerns about Biden’s cognitive ability threaten his campaign. (NBC)
Former House Speaker House Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week the Democrats are keeping their thoughts on Biden quiet “until we see how we go this week.”
“Let’s just hold off,” she said on MSNBC. “Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week.”
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Jeffrey Clark, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Emma Colton and Kyle Morris contributed to this report.